Why Entrepreneurs Need to Put Themselves First

By Monica Magnetti, YourTango

March 26, 2014

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Hug Yourself
Embrace the incredible journey you are on and say to yourself: "Discern, discern, discern!" You are more than a machine. You are a fabulous human being with human limitations. Stop overloading your system before it crashes. We all know what happens when a system crashes.

It takes longer to repair a broken system than to care for it properly in the first place. When it crashes, we regret pushing it too far and we wonder why we didn't back it up. Your body and mind give you signals before they break down. Be in tune with yourself and your purpose in the world. Take better care of your precious body and mind.

Yes, it's great to want to better yourself and learn more and more. Now it's time to really learn the two basic concepts and embrace them fully: one of you, 24 hours in a day. It always comes back to these.

Trust In Yourself
To become a discerning entrepreneur, you have to go back to the first priority and measure everything against it.

I asked Ashley Wray of Mala Collective what her top priority was for being an entrepreneur. Ashley created Mala Collective from scratch and runs her fair-trade business of mala beads sustainably. Mala Collective's malas are blessed and made with love. Their purpose is to keep the wearer connected to their heart and grounded in her purpose. Ashley is open about her priority: to see her business flourish while spreading the ideal of peace and staying true to her values.

Ashley admits that she sometimes finds it hard to be discerning about when to say yes and when to say no, because the opportunities for growth are tremendous. As her friend, I have mentioned to her a few times that she looked exhausted and was following too many leads, letting her resources run low.

Having coached many up-and-coming entrepreneurs, I've noticed that all of them have guts, as well as a sixth sense about what is good for them professionally. All they have to do is trust in themselves, knowing that they already have what it takes to succeed. Everything else is icing on the cake.

While it is admirable to want to keep growing, it is even more important to be discerning. Try it! This week, instead of accepting all the opportunities that come your way, trust that you know everything you need to know to succeed, and from that place of trust, discern what would serve you best.

The questions you want to ask yourself are easy:

If my top priority is to see my business flourish, how will this opportunity advance me?

How will following this lead affect me physically and mentally?

How many hours in my 24-hour day do I still have to fit in this opportunity?

Put Yourself First
Remember, you must always put yourself and your well-being first. We older entrepreneurs have learned this the hard way. Even though some of us discovered yoga and meditation back before it was a trend, we still got burned, both physically and mentally. Young entrepreneurs are much more aware. With a few simple adjustments in your life, you can avoid the boring mistakes we made of overdoing it. You may want to choose day at the beach or a hike versus one more seminar.

Never forget that your balance is fragile. If stretching yourself to seize a new opportunity will tilt you off balance, then it's easy to say No!

This story was provided by our content partner, YourTango, a digital media company dedicated to love and relationships. No matter what love stage our users are in — single, taken, engaged, married, starting over, or complicated — we help them live their best love lives. Written by Monica Magnetti.